Presidents Cup 2017: Rules, Format and Points System Primer for Golf Tournament

Hosts United States will try to win their seventh straight Presidents Cup as they face the International team at the Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City.

Held since 1994, the tournament is a cousin to the Ryder Cup, with a team of golfers from the rest of the world―minus Europe―taking on the United States. The Americans have dominated the event over the years, losing just one edition and tying another.

Here's a quick primer for the 2017 tournament format. For the full rulebook, visit the Presidents Cup's official website.

Format

The event uses a match play scoring system, with five sessions taking place over the course of four days; Thursday, September 28 until Sunday, October 1.

The schedule will look like this:

Thursday– five foursomes matches
Friday– five four-ball matches
Saturday morning– four foursomes matches
Saturday afternoon– four four-ball matches
Sunday– 12 singles matches

Every match is worth one point, with no play-offs. In the case of a tie, the players share half a point after 18 holes. Since 2003, when the two teams tied for the first time, the tournament has incorporated ties as a possible outcome.

Teams

Each team will consist of 12 players, as well as captains. For the Americans, the 10 players with the most FedExCup points earned between the 2015 BMW Championship and 2017 Dell Technologies Championship made the cut, as well as two captain's picks.

Headliners include Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, giving the hosts plenty of top-end talent.

Phil Mickelson will also be participating, per KPMG Mickelson:

For the International team, the top 10 players of the Official World Golf ranking lead the way, along with captain's picks. Hideki Matsuyama and Jason Day are the two top-ranked players, while Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen are also highly rated contenders.

Prediction

With six wins in a row, the hosts have every reason to feel confident about their chances going into this year's event. Team International has solid top-end talent―Day and Matsuyama can beat anyone on their day―and the last edition of the tournament was very close, with just one point separating the two teams.

Depth seems to favour the Americans, however, as the International team has just three members ranked inside the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings. The USA should―and will―make it seven in a row.